As is usual among the forest tribes the Korkus formerly had a
subdivision called Raj-Korku, who were made up of landowning members of
the caste and were admitted to rank among those from whom a Brahman
would take water, while in some cases a spurious Rajput ancestry
was devised for them, as in the story given above. The remainder of
the tribe were called Potharia, or those to whom a certain dirty
habit is imputed. These main divisions have, however, become more
or less obsolete, and have been supplanted by four subcastes with
territorial names, Mowasi, Bawaria, Ruma and Bondoya. The meaning of
the term Mowasi has already been given, and this subcaste ranks as the
highest, probably owing to the gentlemanly calling of armed robbery
formerly practised by its members. The Bawarias are the dwellers in
the Bhanwargarh tract of Betul, the Rumas those who belong to Basim
and Gangra in the Amraoti District, and the Bondoyas the residents of
the Jitgarh and Pachmarhi tract. These last are also called Bhovadaya
and Bhopa, and this name has been corrupted into Bopchi in the Wardha
District, a few hundred Bondoya Korkus who live there being known
as Bopchi and considered a distinct caste. Except among the Mowasis,
who usually marry in their own subcaste, the rule of endogamy is not
strictly observed. The above description refers to Betul and Nimar,
but in Hoshangabad, Mr. Crosthwaite says: "Four-fifths of the Korkus
have been so affected by the spread of Brahmanical influence as to
have ceased to differ in any marked way from the Hindu element in the
population, and the Korku has become so civilised as to have learnt
to be ashamed of being a Korku." Each subcaste has traditionally 36
exogamous septs, but the numbers have now increased. The sept names
are generally taken from those of plants and animals. These were no
doubt originally totemistic, but the Korkus now say that the names are
derived from trees and other articles in or behind which the ancestors
of each sept took refuge after being defeated in a great battle. Thus
the ancestor of the Atkul sept hid in a gorge, that of the Bhuri Rana
sept behind a dove's nest, that of the Dewda sept behind a rice plant,
that of the Jambu sept behind a jamun tree, [599] that of the Kasada
sept in the bed of a river, that of the Takhar sept behind a cucumber
plant, that of the Sakum sept behind a teak tree, and so on. Other
names are Banku or a forest-dweller; Bhurswa or Bhoyar, perhaps from
the caste of that name; Basam or Baoria, the god of beehives; and
Marskola or Mawasi, which the Korkus take to mean a field flooded by
rain. One sept has the name Killibhasam, and its ancestor is said to
have eaten the flesh of a heifer half-devoured by a tiger and parched
by a forest fire. In Hoshangabad the legend of the battle is not
known, and among the names given by Mr. Crosthwaite are Akandi, the
benighted one; Tandil, a rat; and Chuthar, the flying black-bug. In
a few cases the names of septs are Hindi or Marathi words, these
perhaps affording a trace of the foundation of separate families
by members of other castes. No totemistic usages are followed as a
rule, but one curious instance may be given. One sept has the name
lobo, which means a piece of cloth. But the word lobo also signifies
'to leak.' If a person says a sentence containing the word lobo in
either signification before a member of the sept while he is eating,
he will throw away the food before him as if it were contaminated and
prepare a meal afresh. Ten of the septs [600] consider the regular
marriage of girls to be inauspicious, and the members of these simply
give away their daughters without performing a ceremony.